Action Packed

Hi Readers!

I hope this post finds you and brings you some joy, happiness, or insight.

Today will be action packed...with ROCKING! Well, that might be too strong. This morning, I will actually be JAZZING, as I hone New Orleans style jazz songs for a gig on 3/4/25. This afternoon, I will be semi-acoustically ROCKING with Stefan of GUPPY EFFECT duo fame. So, today will be action packed...with MUSIC-ING. But, that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily.

Yesterday, I said I would propose a wellness challenge for this coming week. I wanted to propose challenging everyone to go without any social media (SM) for a whole week. However, I realized how impossible that would be, due to the highly addictive nature of SM. Most people simply could not abstain from SM for a whole week, or even a whole day. So, instead, the challenge is: try not to actively engage with SM for a whole week. You can look at it (after all, SM advertisers are paying for your eyes). But don't like or emoji anything you see. Don't comment on things you see. Definitely DO NOT POST anything. Can you do it? Still highly doubtful. But...that is why it is a challenge. If it were easy, you would not feel challenged.

The Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs) are out in force these days. Continue to intentionally practice your self care toward their demise.

Take care!

Fin.

Weekender

Hi Dear Readers!

It's the weekend, and I hope this blog post finds you and brings you some joy, insight, or freedom.

I was thinking it might be fun to propose a weekly challenge each week and then challenge people to complete it. I don't have any challenge ideas right now at this moment, but it's only Saturday. So, I'll think on it and propose an idea tomorrow. Hopefully...

But if you have ideas, share in the COMMENTS.

Fin.

The Cosmos

Hi Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, positivity, and/or insight. It's a dark time...and I don't mean that metaphorically. As I look outside, it's actually a dark time, with dusk fast approaching and a gray sky (currently unleashing something of a blizzard, which is not unusual for this time of the year). The daylight is waning fast. I just finished a solid Peloton workout and took a nice hot shower, so I am feeling great! Not only that, I also found the time and will power to shovel some snow off of the back deck, so that the dogs, Nyah and Ziggy, have easier access to the yard when they go out to potty. I think Nyah used to live in Texas, and so I don't think she has had much, if any, exposure to snow or cold. However, she seems to love it. Because, when I had her out in the yard a few minutes ago, she went into turbo mode, racing around the yard in apparent glee as she churned up the light and fluffy snow (light and fluffy bodes well for the marathon of snow blowing I very likely have to do in the morning. Although, we have "a guy" now...so there is a non-zero probability I won't have to snow blow at all...but I think it is very small probability indeed).

I'm not sure what to write about, beyond what I just wrote about, so I am going to simply jump right in. In the theology and traditions of the Church of BWJ, The Cosmos is the source of all positivity and the so-called power of positive thinking. The way adherents of the Church of BWJ harness and manifest this Cosmic power is through INTENTION - linking positive action with an OUTCOME. Sometimes, but not always, the intentional positive action is directly linked to the outcome. For example, by intentionally eating healthy and exercising daily, the desired outcome is positive health and wellness, and the cause and effect is well established. There is also a direct link between the intentional eating of a plant based vegan diet and the positive outcome of protecting the planet from climate change. This link, while supported by science, manifests on a more collective scale, because the output power of the vegan diet for individuals is fairly low. It requires a minion (aka, a lot) of people (ideally several million to a billion) to be vegan to really manifest a reduction in global warming and harmful climate change, perpetrated by the Diabolical Forces of the Universe (DFUs). Unfortunately, the Church of BWJ is a very individualistic religion, positing that adherents only have control over their own actions and the consequent outcomes of those actions. So, to summarize, eating a vegan diet has a strong positive effect on the outcome of individual health and wellness. It has a much weaker (albeit non-zero) effect on the scale of the entire planet and climate change.

I want to end this post by circling back to the intentional actions that are indirectly related to positive outcomes. For example, an indirect positive outcome is the disenfranchisement and demise of the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs) that make everyone's life worse. The intentional action used to manifest this positive outcome is adherence to the Three Tenets of the Church of BWJ, which have a collective amplifying effect on each other (the more of them you do, the better...and the more people that do them collectively, the better): 1. Eating a whole food (80%), plant based (100%) diet. 2. Aerobically exercising daily for a minimum of 30 minutes. 3. Fasting from toxins (including mostly toxic social and mainstream media). We encourage you to do these three things and help bring about the demise of the DFUs. Thanks!

Fin.

I Should Probably Post Something

Hi Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you joy, happiness, and/or utility.

After we got back from our trip Down Under, Deborah and I spent some time exploring the possibility of possibly moving to Melbourne to live for a few years, if Deborah can get a Partner Visa (I am already an Aussie citizen, due to being born there). There are numerous reasons for this. We did some research and met with an Australian immigration lawyer who told us we'd probably get approved, but it would not be cheap. We are not planning to act on this information just yet (many obstacles, including dogs and family constraints). But if America continues its current slide into ridiculousness and oblivion, we could execute The Plan, if things get just too far out of control. I'm ready to make the move now. I think it would be great, but I am respecting Deborah's wishes, because I can go either way (with my dual citizenship). I'd work through the obstacles methodically. None are insurmountable.

In the meanwhile, I am fully back into the flow of my marriage and family therapy practice now. I'm slated to play a jazz gig in a few weeks, on March 4th, and I need to establish some weekly rehearsal time on that. I'm excited for it. Stefan and I jammed GUPPY EFFECT v2.0 (semi-acoustic incarnation) yesterday, despite my limited vocal capabilities (due to oral surgery last week to fix a dumb thing with my gums). I've been maintaining social amd mainstream media (SMSM) abstinence quite well, and I cannot lie...it's awesome. Freedom from all that 24/7 unfiltered toxicity and vitriol is amazing. I still consume some news analysis - in a very curated form - through some of my favorite podcasts. But I manage it the way the media used to do it...exposure to curated news and analysis at defined times during the day (typically in the car or while exercising on the Peloton).

I have to take my mom to her piano lesson tonight, so I must sign off. But I'll be back soon. Thanks for reading!

Fin.

I Tried to Warn You

Hi Readers!

I hope this blog post finds you and brings you some joy, peace, happiness, or useful insights. 

Some weeks ago, in mid-November 2024, I encouraged and advised my readers to fast from social and mainstream media (SMSM) due to its deleterious effects on mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. I have no idea how many of my readers took me up on that challenge, but I do know that those who did not are now suffering the serious negative consequences of continuing to consume toxic SMSM, which I totally warned you all about. If you are suffering from SMSM addiction and its destructive consequences, I am sorry that's happening to you.

What I refer to as the Diabolical Forces in the Universe (DFUs) are now fully in control of and exploiting for their own personal gain the SMSM infrastructure. They are doing what is commonly called "flooding the zone with sh!t," so that there is no room for anything that is not their complete load of toxic diarrhea. As a result, consumption of SMSM now literally makes you dumber, angrier, and unhappier. It's also painfully more addictive and difficult to disenfranchise from your life (if you doubt this, I challenge you to abstain from SMSM for a week, or even a day).

While it made more sense and was considerably easier to escape SMSM at the end of 2024 and into early 2025, that does not mean it is impossible to do now. It's just much harder. That being said, three weeks of complete SMSM fasting is all it takes to detoxify it from your life and restore your intelligence, critical thinking skills, happiness, and positivity. I continue to encourage you to disenfranchise SMSM from your life. Coupled with daily aerobic exercise and a whole food, plant based diet, you may even achieve Enlightenment.

Fin.

Down Under Day 14

I had mixed feelings today, because it was the day we had to leave awesome Australia and return to mediocre America. Australia really has their socio-political sh!t together. They have great infrastructure and a generally post-modern, 21st century society. Deborah and I both want to move here, especially if America continues its anti-intellectual descent into idiocy.

Anyway, we got up about 7 AM. Deborah showered first, and I showered second, during her post-shower ablutions. We took it at a leisurely pace, because we were not getting picked up to go to the airport until 9:30 AM. We went down to the hotel restaurant for our last breakfast in Melbourne (the usual!), before checking out, donating our Myki public transit cards to the hotel for the use of future visitors, and then waiting out front of the hotel for our limo to the airport, who arrived on time.

The trip home to Madison WI met our expectations, given the rigamarole of international travel and the mediocrity of the American air transportation system. We managed to sleep a fair amount on the long overseas leg of the trip, from Melbourne AUS to San Francisco USA. Our seat mate on that flight was agreeable and did not need to get up much to pee. We were given fair to good vegan meals on the flight.

We landed at SFO at about 8:30 AM on Saturday, which was before we left Melbourne (at 1 PM Saturday, Melbourne time), due to the weirdness of the International Date Line (we got an extra Saturday, to make up for the Sunday we lost when going to Down Under...). We made our tightest connection, the flight from San Francisco to Denver, with a few minutes to spare. Even though the Melbourne flight was on time and we had over two hours to make the connection, American customs and immigration slowed us down (because they just don't have their sh!t together...a common theme with American infrastructure in general and transportation infrastructure specifically). But we made it, and that's all that matters.

Returning to the States, I became accutely aware of how much farther along into the 21st century other modern post industrial nations are, compared to the US. When did the US lose its will to live? When did its people decide to capitulate to mediocrity and anti-intellectualism (aka, anti-woke)? When did Americans decide to regress back to the 1950s? I don't know. But what I do know is that America needs to up its game. A lot. Chaos is not a viable sociopolitical vision or goal.

We had a relaxed and unrushed layover in DEN, awaiting our Madison flight, which was on time and smooth. My sister Kate picked us up at the Madison airport, at which point I was thrust fully back into my normal life, as she regaled us with our known (but avoided thinking about much for two weeks) upcoming family obligations.

Overall, a great vacation.

Fin.